Guyana to open Hong Kong Rugby Sevens against Portugal on Friday

The national men’s Sevens rugby team is currently in Hong Kong to take part in the 24-team Cathay Pacific/HSBC Sevens World Series which will kick off on Friday and end on Sunday.

According to a press release from the Guyana Rugby Football Union (GRFU), the local ruggers will play the opening game versus Portugal at 16:00hrs Hong Kong time (4:00am Friday, Guyana time).

Guyana will play their second game against Russia to start the second day of the tournament on Saturday at 9:30am HK time (21:30 hrs Friday, Guyana time) and its final pool game against Japan at 14:38 hrs HK time (2:38am Saturday, Guyana time).

Player/coach Theodore Henry running with the ball during a scrimmage with the Rugby USA team.

Guyana is in Pool F in the first round of the tournament with Portugal, Russia and Japan. The local ruggers will have to place second in the pool to go forward into the qualifying round of the tournament. The first three teams in the final round will qualify as a core team to join the 12 other core teams in the Sevens World Series played around the world.

The  national Sevens team arrived in Hong Kong on Monday after a five-day training camp in Los Angeles  at the USA Olympic Centre in Chula Vista where the team scrimmaged with Rugby USA.

Reports from Team Manager Mike Mc Cormack indicated that the team is fully fit, except for Christopher Singh who is recovering from a groin injury.

The release stated that the local ruggers are in high spirits and are looking forward to playing in the world’s premier Sevens tournament.

The tournament will be featured on television networks around the world. The US NBC Network will broadcast coverage on the second and final day of the tournament. The local ruggers earned a place at the HSBC Sevens World Series after they won their sixth consecutive North America Caribbean Rugby Association (NACRA) title last year November in Barbados by demolishing the Cayman Islands by 29 points to nil.